An Editorial by Bonnie Reynolds
of Spring Farm CARES
(We do not like to be judgmental at Spring Farm. In this case I will make an exception or bust)
You see now why we had to include this letter. I go in awe of Susan Foster. She must have rewritten that letter dozens of times, trying to take out the vicious anger and vitriol aimed at certain persons, at certain segments of our society. Just as I must now vent my spleen on this computer and then delete most of it so that this piece will be "politically correct." Those of you reading this, please read between the lines and understand all the politically incorrect things that Susan and I really want to say.
And I want to say something else here. Those of us involved in working with animals and working for their rights are continuously accused of being out of touch with "reality", with worrying about "just those animals" when there are so many human problems that we should more properly be concerned with.
Animal concerns ARE human concerns!
Whether our animals are farm animals who provide our families with a livelihood, whether the animals are wild creatures who provide our spirits with happiness and joy just to see them, or whether these animals are loving little creatures who provide us with love and cuddling and endless laughter in our homes - the hearts, souls and minds of human beings are totally and externally entwined with those of animals. No sparrow falleth but what some human breast bleeds.
Every human emotion that you can think of gets wrapped up into the animals that we humans care for, observe, love or shelter. And when one of these animals dies, especially a beloved pet in such a violent, brutal, horrible manner there is no way to describe the pain of the human being attached to that animal.
In awful ways, this case reminds Dawn and me of the helplessness that we felt on the night of our fire, having to hear some of our animals scream for help, having to stand there and watch that burning building, knowing that our beloved friends were burning inside. And there was nothing that we could do to help.
First of all, in this editorial, I will be calling for far more than Susan asked for.
There cannot be a one of you who is not at this moment filled with horror and outrage, and probably imagining your own self in Susan's place, helplessly watching one of your own terror-stricken pets die in your arms.
Guess what? With the laws as they are now, it could happen to any of you when walking your pets in a rural area.
And guess what else? It has already happened to many of you, more of you than you imagine. You just were not there to watch your pet's dying terror and agony. How many of you living in rural areas have had cats, or even dogs, just disappear? Wild animals got it, you think. In all probability the "wild animals" ran on two legs and drove 4-wheelers. Chances are great that you pet died in a leg hold trap and their bodies were hidden, gotten rid of, when the trapper came to check his trap. Your hair would stand on end if you read actual statistics on trapping, and about the amount of "waste" (that's what they call your pets) (and if those pets are not already completely dead, the trappers club them to death) that trappers catch and discard.
And what of the stray domestic animals desperately searching for some food?
What of the wild animals who are caught?
Imagine their terror and agony.
The lucky ones are those who manage to gnaw a leg off and get away.
(And I wonder about the statistics on people, including children out playing. How many of them have blundered into these traps? The funny thing is that "good old boys" don't seem to keep those statistics. We would be happy to hear from any of you on that matter)
Can you imagine a human being who could lay such a cruel trap in the first place, then witness the twisted agony-wracked body waiting for him when he comes to check - and then set another such trap, and another and another?
Does such a person deserve one ounce of our concern or the concern of our lawmakers?
The person whose trap killed Russell has been apprehended. There is a court case pending as I write this. The person who set the trap said he does it "for the fun of it."
Trapping no longer has any place in our society.
Nor should wearing fur from animals, either trapped or factory-farming-raised, have a place in our society.
(Has anyone noticed any member of any modern royal family wearing fur? It seems that those who are truly noble have understood true elegance long before the rest of us. Only those pathetic creatures desperately trying to achieve elegance, stoop to wearing dead animals on their backs)
Wild pelts are seldom good. The animals have been up against the elements, might not have had good nutrition, might be old, or sick, or out of season for healthy fur. On top of that is the damage often done to pelts by the trapping process itself and the animal's desperate struggle to escape.
No, trapping is not even an important part of the fur business. This is a cruel and disgusting fringe industry, the bailwick of persons too despicable to merit the support or concern of a civilized society.
Those in political positions might be worried about losing votes if they offend these people. Frankly, I doubt that such persons even vote.
Furthermore, even if such people did get their dander up and vote in a block through some of their "sporting" organizations, the majority of citizens will vote against them, for the majority of people in this state and in this nation are kind and decent and will do the right thing when they hear the news and get the facts. We believe that implicitly. And we promise the politicians that we WILL make sure that they do hear that news and do know the facts.
The time has come for us to abandon a practice whose real value disappeared well over a hundred years ago. At a certain time in our history, yes, some trapping provided food and warm clothing for rural families. There is absolutely no excuse for trapping now, except for the use of live traps to relocate animals.
LETS PASS A RUSSELL LAW. Let's not let the horrible death of this little dog, and the soul-tearing pain inflicted on his owners by a dreadful individual who laid a trap right in the middle of homes with kids and pets (how easily a child might have gotten caught in the trap) - let's not let this one pass. Let's justify that little dog's death by finally outlawing any manner of trapping except live trapping. Let's put teeth into the Russell Law, teeth as harsh as the jaws of the trapper's trap, to strangle the activities of anyone who disobeys it, and put them away for a good long time, behind bars as unmerciful as their traps.
These traps are in the same category as land mines, which many people are now fighting to abolish.
Any instrument designed to be left unattended and which is capable of killing or maiming any innocent thing that happens by, inflicting untold pain and suffering at random, must be abolished by any civilized society.
It was Mohandas Gandhi who said, "The true measure of any society may be taken in the way it treats its animals."
These traps inflict brutal suffering onto people and animals alike.
Please write to your representatives and senators wherever you are, and to the governor of your state. And to your federal representatives and senators, and especially to the President, who needs to hear from his constituency that they do not approve of mechanical and ill-aimed devices designed to maim and kill. Send copies of Susan's letter to your newspapers, and to all your friends, and to all the humane organizations that you know of, so that they may help continue to spread the word, to television and radio news shows, to talk show hosts. Enlist your kids. Get them talking about it in the schools, understanding the cruelty of these traps, and mounting campaigns of their own to let people know about Russell. Let's let the whole world know about the brutal death of Russell and the human suffering visited on Susan and her family. Let's make Russell a household word. Let's let everyone in the world know who Russell was. Let's make The Russell Law a catchword that will finally make politicians and bureaucrats sit up and pay attention.
And if they refuse to pay attention? Well, there is always our vote.
This CAN be done.
And it is one step toward a gentle society.
This is not a call for money. This is a call for action. Talk your head off to people about the death of Russell. Put your money into copying this material and mailing it to people who have a voice, who can let more and more people know about it.
Politicians and bureaucrats DO pay attention to overwhelming public opinion. Let's overwhelm them.
© "ALL THAT IS" The Newsletter of Spring Farm CARES, Clinton, NY 13323.
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